Nielsen to join Toro Rosso

The highly experienced Briton, who has worked for a host of teams in the sport, is set to join the Italian outfit before the start of the season. He could be in place before the first test at Jerez in Spain next month.

Nielsen has most recently worked at Caterham but it was revealed at the end of last year that he had decided to leave the team for a fresh challenge in F1.

There has been no official confirmation from Toro Rosso about the news, but an announcement is likely to be made in the next few weeks.

Caterham has not yet announced its own plans to replace Nielsen, and was considering a revamp of its sporting department.